The German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Egypt), through its Agriculture Working Group, organized a high-level meeting in Berlin to discuss the development of Egypt’s agricultural cooperative system and its transformation into productive economic entities integrated into modern value chains. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Egyptian delegation’s participation in Fruit Logistica.
The meeting reflects the Chamber’s institutional role in facilitating structured dialogue between government and the private sector. The Agriculture Working Group, whose project is managed by Mr. Ziad Arafa, oversaw the technical coordination of the meeting, underscoring the Chamber’s commitment to advancing structural reform of agricultural cooperatives and promoting the transfer of German expertise in this field.
The Egyptian delegation included H.E. Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation; H.E. Counselor Mahmoud Fawzy, Minister of Parliamentary and Legal Affairs and Political Communication; Dr. Samir Al Naggar, Chairman of Daltex; Mr. Hisham Al Naggar, Vice Chairman of Daltex; and Mr. Mohamed Al-Banna, Vice Chairman of El Banna Group. The German side was represented by Mr. Christian Müller, Deputy Managing Director of Reichenau-Gemüse eG; Mr. Dieter Ghalen, Cooperatives Expert at DGRV; and Mr. Peter Asmussen, Representative of DGRV Germany.
The discussions reviewed successful German cooperative models established since the 1950s, characterized by full farmer ownership, elected executive and supervisory boards ensuring transparency and accountability, and strict quality management systems as a prerequisite for international market access. H.E. Minister Farouk stressed the need to modernize the legislative framework to reduce bureaucracy, enhance governance, and enable cooperatives to evolve from input distributors into integrated economic entities providing marketing, technical, and financial services.
The Berlin meeting constitutes a practical continuation of the outcomes of “Agri-Dialogue 2026” roundtable organized by the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Cairo earlier this year. The roundtable laid the groundwork for legislative and institutional dialogue on cooperative reform, which is now being translated into operational cooperation with German partners.
Participants agreed that modernizing agricultural cooperatives is essential to restoring farmers’ trust, reducing post-harvest losses, strengthening internal governance mechanisms, and integrating cooperatives into value chains, thereby supporting export growth and food security.
This meeting was sponsored by Commercial International Bank (CIB), PepsiCo Egypt, and Daltex Corporation as Platinum Sponsors; El Banna Group as Gold Sponsor; CARE Egypt as Silver Partner; and Boosh The Bee Keeper as In-Kind Sponsor.
